My family is exploring the purchase of a 16 acres horse farm in Swannanoa, NC, adjacent to Warren Wilson College. As a part of the exploration, I developed a conceptual site plan based on converting the use of the land from pasture to orchards, gardens and food forest or edible forest gardens.

The organizing principle revolves around establishing a ‘home zone’ around the main house and adjacent outdoor spaces, circled by a row of planted trees. Three additional zones or rings radiate out from this central space to create a framework to develop gardens, orchards, food forests and reforestation areas over time. The site plan represents thinking on the time-scale of forest, allowing for an organic unfolding of development, responding to the needs of the land and the people inhabiting it.